We had a super fun time rescuing some tadpoles from the big swimmingpool (which is such a chemical waste) this past spring and many tadpoles made it into the froglet and toadlet stage, then hopped into their futures. After the tadpoles had transformed, I left the kiddie pool out for a while to be certain the traveling frog orgy had not innoculated it with more spawn. When I discovered no eggs or tadpoles, I drained the festering mini swamp, and began plan B. Since I am not a fan of battling the invasions of ever present and truly horrid Bermuda grass into my planting beds in the ground, I decided that the kiddie pool would be the perfect home for my 7 or 8 year old last surviving strawberry plants. My poor plants have been languishing in some ridiculous tiny hanging planters, with no room for expansion. My mother has tried repeatedly to kill them off entirely when I have had them in other spots, and yet, some survived. (I don't know what she has against strawberries? Perhaps she can't identify the plants when they are not bearing fruits?) So, on to the good and some would say terribly tacky stuff-which is just perfect for this cookie cutter suburban beige bland neighborhood we are currently stuck in! After I dumped the gross water out of the pool, I cleaned it a bit. Then, I pulled out the drill and put in the biggest bit we have-which is about a 3/4" I think. It is so old the markings have worn off and the bit case is always a jumble. I drilled holes all around the bottom of the kiddie pool, about an inch or so above ground level. Then, I grabbed the can of cheap black spray paint lurking in the garage and gleefully obliterated the cute little Paw Patrol figures on all the places that would be visible after the pool was filled with dirt and plants. (This was just the sides & rolled out lip of the thing).I could have gotten uber fancy with the spray paint and given it a faux textured finish or some such to go even further with the disguise, but lately I'm into cheap and easy with whatever is already available sitting around and gathering spiders in the garage. After the paint dried, I plopped the pool down on a likely spot in the yard, threw some rabbit doo doo hay, compost, leftover potting soil & peat into it and mixed it up a bit. Lastly, I plunked in the languishing strawberry plants. I raked some needle chaff from under the dreadful Leyland cypress trees and used it as a finishing mulch. Voila! The catbird will be delighted if the strawberries thrive, and the grandchildren may be as well.